While humans have achieved the seemingly impossible feat of putting humans into outer space and on the moon, there remains an incredible lack of information on the most basic of all functions—ingestion and digestion of foodstuffs. How the alimentary canal achieves the critical life-perpetuating function of receiving whole food-stuffs, the physico-chemical process by which critical nutrients are extracted, and excess or unnecessary components are eliminated, is understood very well in some respects, and very poorly in other respects. The general addition of various chemicals at various stages of the digestive process and the extraction of certain nutrients has been studied extensively. However, the models available for the actual physical manipulation of food-stuffs remain relatively crude.
Some of the most sophisticated models that are available to date include that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,305, issued on Jun. 11, 1996, for an “In Vitro Model of an In Vivo Digestive Tract”. In that model, a relevant set of questions may be asked with respect to the digestive process as applied to a relatively limited subset of test foodstuffs. The system consists essentially of at least one unit including at least two pressure chambers into which a fluid may be introduced, passed back and forth between the two pressure chambers, into which may be added various chemicals, enzymes, and pH modulators.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,733, issued on Feb. 8, 2000, relates to a “Simulated Biological Dissolution and Absorption System”, including a cell monolayer in contact with a medium in which pharmaceutical formulations may be dissolved, and analyzed, and an effluent from said cell monolayer to permit analysis of uptake of the dissolved pharmaceutical composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,619, issued Apr. 30, 2002, relates to an “Artificial Gut”, which includes a series of hollow fibers lined with selected biological components, including enterocytes, and perfusing the series of hollow fibers thus coated with biological components, including under oxygenation.
In none of these systems is there a concerted focus on the actual physical forces and handling of the materials introduced to ensure that, as much as possible, the system reflects actual physiological processes, from both a chemical point of view, but also a mechanical perspective. Accordingly, it is believed that there remains a long felt need for a system that incorporates these parameters, which may be used in conjunction with or to supersede the systems already known in the art, including but not limited to those mentioned above, for seeking to model digestion of foods, pharmaceuticals, and specific nutrients.
A brief discussion of a “model gut” devised by the present inventors was made in “Science and Innovation” Issue 2:05 released by the Institute of Food Research, Norwich, UK (www.ifr.ac.uk). However that discussion did not teach or suggest the structure of the model gut.
Thus it can be seen that the disclosure of novel apparatus, systems and methods for improved simulation of digestion would provide a contribution to the art.